There'll Be a Slight Switch in the October Surprise...

The U.S. Government apologizes for the roster change.

Washington has a new public enemy number one
DEAD OR ALIVE: The US believes Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is behind much of the violence in Iraq. Kill or capture him, the logic goes, and the insurgency is over

Dominating one wall of the huge room, faced by ranks of soldiers with telephones and monitors, is a screen showing a large map of a substantial chunk of Iraq, direct feeds from predator pilotless surveillance drones, live TV pictures and three slogans: "What has happened? What is happening? What is to be done?"

The screen covers a portion of Iraq populated by nearly four million people. One man is at the top of the "What is to be done?" list.

Fadel al-Khalailah, better known as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is Washington's public enemy number one, almost supplanting Osama bin Laden as the main focus of the global counter-terrorist hunt. The US believes that the 38-year-old Jordanian is the mastermind behind much of the recent violence in Iraq. Kill or capture him, the logic goes, and the insurgency falls apart. The reward for his capture is now US$10 million.